Studying in Dublin at American College Dublin was probably one of the most amazing experiences I have had so far. It was basically four weeks of experience after experience of Irish culture. From the moment I got there it was a learning experience. The apartment I got to live in was amazing as well. We were located in the heart of Dublin city right off Grafton Street, the best shopping street. For an apartment full of girls this in itself was a dream come true. Our apartment was also only a 5 to 10 minute walk from the school which was really good. It was nice to wake up in the morning walk to school and still have the time stop off at café’s along the way for a quick breakfast. Classes were made to be fun as well. The Psychology of Personality class that I took was engaging and our professor always encouraged us to have class discussions about the topics we were learning about. The Irish History Seminar was my favorite class though. Getting to see historical Dublin was an amazing experience. We got to visit Dublin Castle, The Book of Kells, Kilmainham Jail, and other places in just the first week. The second week we traveled outside of Dublin a little and saw the Boyne Valley Tombs & Battle Site and Glendalough. The Newgrange tomb was my favorite place to see by far. It was amazing to see that people over 5000 years ago built this structure and it stayed in perfect condition long enough for us to see it now.
Although going to class in Dublin was a cool experience it was the times after class that were the most fun and where the best memories were made. Everyone that was there for the 4 weeks became really close through everything we did after class. We made many random road trips after class to wherever the bus would take us. A bunch of the girls went to the Dublin Zoo and almost all of us went to Powerscourt after class one day. Every Thursday while we were there we got to go to the park with whichever students wanted to go and play soccer too. One weekend when there was a bank holiday a few of the girls in my apartment went on a Paddywagon tour that took us around Ireland to all of the main tourist spots. After we got back from these most of the time history filled places we all went out to the pubs for the Irish night life. A few times a couple of us girls got together and went to see live Irish dancing at a couple of the pubs. The school also arranged for us to actually learn some Irish Dancing, which was one of my favorite school run events! Some other events that they put together for us were going to see the Guniess Factory and going to see a hurling and Celtic football match. The matches were another highlight of my trip there because these were sports that no one knew about and these Irish people were so passionate about them. Watching hurling was like watching every American sport all rolled into one match! Although the pubs and clubs were a fun part of being in Ireland I would have to say my favorite thing to do at night was go to a little ice cream place down in Temple Bar and then eat it outside listening to the live music coming from all the pubs. Sometimes there were even street performers to listen to while we enjoyed our amazing ice cream. Overall Being in Ireland has been one of the best experiences I have had before. The people there are so friendly and it is just a beautiful and amazing place to visit.